The Louisville Colonels were a Major League Baseball team that played in Louisville, Kentucky. They played in the American Association when it was considered a major league from 1882 through 1891 and in the National League from 1892 through 1899, after which the team folded and its best players were transferred to the Pittsburgh Pirates.[1][2] From 1882 through 1884 the team was named the Louisville Eclipse.[1] During their time as a Major League team, the Colonels employed 17 managers.[3] The duties of the team manager include team strategy and leadership on and off the field.[4][5]
The Colonels' first manager was Denny Mack.[1] Mack managed the team for one season (1882), in which he led the Colonels to a record of 38 wins and 42 losses.[3] Fred Clarke was the Colonels' last manager.[1] Clarke took over as player-manager of the team during the 1897 season, and managed the team through the 1899 season while also playing as an outfielder for the Colonels.[1][6] Clarke was one of the players transferred to the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1900, as were Honus Wagner, Tommy Leach, Claude Ritchey and Deacon Phillippe.[7][8] Clarke took over as the Pirates' player-manager, and after a second-place finish in 1900, he led the Pirates, with the former Colonels stars, to three consecutive league pennants in 1901, 1902, 1903, and a World Series championship in 1909.[9] Clarke was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1945, the only Colonels' manager so honored.[10][11] The Colonels won their only Major League pennant when they had the best record in the American Association in 1890.[1] They played to a tie in the World Series that season against the National League champion Brooklyn Bridegrooms; each team won three games and there was one tie game.[a][12] Jack Chapman was the Colonels' manager that season.[3]
Clarke holds the Colonels' record for games managed (402), managerial wins (180), and managerial losses (212).[3] Mike Walsh, who managed the team in 1884, has the highest winning percentage of any Colonels' manager, at .630.[3] The only other two managers who had winning percentages over .500 for the Colonels are Mack and Joe Gerhardt, who managed the team in 1883.[3] The only Colonels' manager who served more than one term was Mordecai Davidson, who served two terms during the 1888 season while he was also the team's owner.[13][14] Davidson replaced John Kelly for three games before being replaced by John Kerins.[3][13] After Kerins managed the Colonels for seven games, Davidson took over again for the final 90 games of the season.[3][13] Davidson's total managerial record with the Colonels was 93 games managed with 35 wins and 54 losses, for a winning percentage of .393.[13]
# |
A running total of the number of Colonels managers. Any manager who has two or more separate terms is counted only once. |
G |
Number of regular season games managed; may not equal sum of wins and losses due to tie games |
W |
Number of regular season wins in games managed |
L |
Number of regular season losses in games managed |
WPct |
Winning percentage: number of wins divided by number of games managed |
PA |
Playoff appearances: number of years this manager has led the franchise to the playoffs |
PW |
Playoff wins: number of wins this manager has accrued in the playoffs |
PL |
Playoff losses: number of losses this manager has accrued in the playoffs |
LC |
League Championships: number of League Championships, or pennants, achieved by the manager |
WS |
World Series: number of World Series victories achieved by the manager |
† |
Elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame |
#[b] | Image | Manager | Seasons | G | W | L | WPct | PA | PW | PL | LC | WS | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Denny Mack | 1882 | 80 | 42 | 38 | .525 | — | — | — | — | — | [15] | |
2 | Joe Gerhardt | 1883 | 98 | 52 | 45 | .536 | — | — | — | — | — | [16] | |
3 | Mike Walsh | 1884 | 110 | 68 | 40 | .630 | — | — | — | — | — | [17] | |
4 | Jim Hart | 1885–1886 | 250 | 119 | 129 | .480 | — | — | — | — | — | [18] | |
5 | John Kelly | 1887–1888 | 178 | 86 | 89 | .491 | — | — | — | — | — | [19][20][21] | |
6 | Mordecai Davidson | 1888 | 3 | 1 | 2 | .333 | — | — | — | — | — | [13] | |
7 | John Kerins | 1888 | 7 | 3 | 4 | .429 | — | — | — | — | — | [22] | |
— | Mordecai Davidson | 1888 | 90 | 34 | 52 | .395 | — | — | — | — | — | [13] | |
8 | Dude Esterbrook | 1889 | 10 | 2 | 8 | .200 | — | — | — | — | — | [23] | |
9 | Jimmy Wolf | 1889 | 65 | 14 | 51 | .215 | — | — | — | — | — | [24] | |
10 | Dan Shannon | 1889 | 58 | 10 | 46 | .179 | — | — | — | — | — | [25] | |
11 | Jack Chapman | 1889–1892 | 336 | 164 | 166 | .497 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0[a] | [12][26] | |
12 | Fred Pfeffer | 1892 | 100 | 42 | 56 | .429 | — | — | — | — | — | [27] | |
13 | Billy Barnie | 1893–1894 | 257 | 86 | 169 | .337 | — | — | — | — | — | [28] | |
14 | John McCloskey | 1895–1896 | 152 | 37 | 113 | .247 | — | — | — | — | — | [29] | |
15 | Bill McGunnigle | 1896 | 115 | 36 | 76 | .321 | — | — | — | — | — | [30] | |
16 | Jim Rogers | 1897 | 44 | 17 | 24 | .415 | — | — | — | — | — | [31] | |
17 | Fred Clarke† | 1897–1899 | 402 | 180 | 212 | .459 | — | — | — | — | — | [9] | |
Totals | 17 managers | 18 seasons | 2,355 | 993 | 1,320 | .429 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 |